Kento Talks Poker: Cash Game with Friends

Posted by Kento, December 2, 2014

Hello it’s Kento! Today I’ll talk about a huge situation. Recently, I played a cash game with my two friends. Let’s play poker.

I raise with 66 at the dealer button. Small Blind calls and Big Blind re-raises. I think 66 is not bad at all at a 3-player table but I have a caller and a raiser in the hand. There are too many over cards out there so I change the plan. I’m hoping to flop a set and hopefully win a big pot against a guy with top pair, a good kicker or set vs. an over pair. So, I call and SB also calls. Let’s see the flop.

The flop comes 4h 6s 9d rainbow. It’s great flop but if they don’t have A9 or 44 or JJ etc., my 666 is not meaningful. SB checks, BB bets. I have to care only about him having a straight draw. BB is a very aggressive player. If I call, maybe he’ll bet on the turn. I don’t want to finish the game here.

I call; SB folds. Let’s see the turn.

The turn is 4d, FULLHOUSE! I can win this. What could my opponent have? Surely not 99 or 44! He bets one more time, I call because if he has a draw, I want it to be a flush draw or a straight draw. Or maybe even any big two pair. Let’s see the river.

The river comes 2 of clubs. My full house still seems good. He checks.

What does he have? I wonder. Anyway, I go ALL IN... He insta-calls with a smile. I say that I have a full house and he says, “Me, too.” I hope he has a small full house but he raised pre-flop. Oh gross! He turns over 99.

It’s my worst play in recent times. When I have a set on the flop, I didn’t think about his hand. He could have had 44 or 99. I only realize this now. Further, if he missed completing his draw, I didn’t need to go all-in.

Sometimes when people have a good hand, they don’t think about their opponent’s hand. It’s very bad. Going forward, I will think carefully every time about what my opponent has. It’s pretty basic, but it’s important. Everybody should also take care.

Kento plays poker in Japan. “I started playing poker at age 12. I played poker 6 times a week in junior high school and high school with friends. Now I play online poker twice a week. I’m a 21-year-old college student with a skill at reading my opponents’ hand. I’m good at Blackjack too. When on vacation, I have played poker in casinos in England, Australia, and Korea.